Textile wet processing machines are utilized extensively in the textile industry. The term "wet processing" refers to the process of treating the textile fabric with a treatment liquid, such as a liquid dye solution. In a particular application, the wet processing machine is used to perform what is known as "piece dyeing" of large textile fabrics. The fabric is formed in a continuous ring that has the appearance of a thick rope. Thus, the term "continuous cloth rope" or "cloth rope" is used to describe the textile fabric. The cloth rope is inserted into the wet processing machine and circulated through a processing chamber containing a liquid dye solution. As the cloth rope is circulated through the processing chamber, it is referred to as a "cloth plug." As will be described hereafter, the cloth plug is repeatedly circulated through the processing chamber so that the liquid dye solution is dispersed uniformly throughout the textile fabric.
Known textile wet processing machines typically consist of three primary components. The first component is a large, hollow vessel for containing the treatment liquid. The vessel includes means for circulating the treatment liquid, and means for heating and cooling the treatment liquid. The vessel contains, without leakage, all of the treatment liquid used to treat the textile fabric. The second component is at least one U-shaped processing chamber having open ends. The processing chamber is positioned within the interior of the vessel and is typically formed of a pair of side walls, an outer wall extending transversely between the side walls, and an inner wall extending transversely between the side walls opposite the outer wall. The side walls, outer wall, and inner walls of the processing chamber typically have perforations therethrough to allow the treatment liquid to flow into and out of the processing chamber inside the vessel. The third component is a mechanical means, preferably located near the top of the vessel, for drawing the cloth rope out of the processing chamber so that the cloth rope is repeatedly circulated through the treatment liquid in the processing chamber.
The primary problem with the known textile wet processing machines is that they do not adequately accommodate different textile fabrics having great variations in weight, texture, thickness, flexibility and load. These variations are naturally exaggerated when the textile fabric is circulated in cloth rope form through a treatment liquid, such as a liquid dye solution. As is understood by those skilled in the art, the handling characteristics of the textile fabric are dramatically influenced by these variations. Accordingly, textile fabrics having great variations in the above mentioned properties behave quite differently in the wet processing machine and typically require a processing chamber of differing volumetric size to enable the machine to realize its maximum capacity for treating a preselected textile fabric.
Those skilled in the art of dyeing textile fabrics in cloth rope form realize that textile wet processing machines having processing chambers of fixed volumetric size cannot accommodate textile fabrics having great variations in weight, texture, thickness, flexibility and load. Dyeing machines manufactured to accommodate heavier or larger diameter cloth rope cannot also accommodate lighter or smaller diameter cloth rope. If a lighter or smaller diameter cloth rope is circulated through a processing chamber designed to accommodate a heavier or larger diameter cloth rope, the cloth rope is likely to tangle inside the processing chamber. Likewise, dyeing machines manufactured to accommodate a longer load of cloth rope, cannot also accommodate a shorter load of cloth rope. Similarly, if a shorter load of cloth rope is circulated through a processing chamber designed to accommodate a longer load of cloth rope, the cloth rope is likely to tangle inside the processing chamber of the dyeing machine.
In the past, manufactures of textile wet processing machines have responded to the above described problem by manufacturing machines of many different sizes to accommodate the wide range of handling characteristics created by the variations encountered in fabric weight, texture, thickness, flexibility and load. These machines have included proportionally sized processing chambers having fixed side, outer and inner walls. More recently, a textile wet processing machine has been developed which includes a processing chamber having an adjustable inner wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,526 issued May 14, 1991, to Hacker et al. discloses a textile wet processing machine including a U-shaped processing chamber provided with an adjustable inner wall. The inner wall includes C-shaped lateral flanges that permit the inner wall to be removably mounted between the side walls of the processing chamber. The inner wall is mounted to the side walls by a plurality of fasteners that are received in perforations pre-formed in the side walls. Because the inner wall may be repositioned by receiving the plurality of fasteners in different perforations in the side walls, the inner wall is selectively adjustable toward and away from the outer wall. Thus, the volumetric size of the interior of the processing chamber may be altered to accommodate the particular textile fabric being processed.
Disadvantageously, however, the adjustability of the inner wall of the wet processing machine disclosed in the patent to Hacker et al. is limited to the distance in the direction of movement of the inner wall toward or away from the outer wall between the centers of adjacent perforations in the side walls. Thus, the position of the inner wall relative to the outer wall is selectively adjustable to only predetermined, discrete positions. Accordingly, the volumetric size of the interior of the processing chamber cannot be altered in small enough increments to accommodate textile fabrics in cloth rope form having the great variations in weight, texture, thickness, flexibility and load that are typically encountered in the wet processing of textile fabrics.
In addition, the design of the wet processing machine disclosed in the patent to Hacker et al. requires the operator to position himself uncomfortably within the interior portion of the U-shaped processing chamber to remove and replace the plurality of fasteners that reposition the inner wall relative to the outer wall. Further, each of the plurality of fasteners must first be aligned with the corresponding perforations pre-formed in the side walls to mount the inner wall to the side walls of the processing chamber. To reposition the inner wall (once the plurality of fasteners have been removed), it is typically necessary for a first operator to hold the relatively large inner wall in the desired position while a second operator replaces the plurality of fasteners in the corresponding perforations in the side walls.
Consequently, installing, servicing and repositioning the inner wall of the processing chamber is time consuming and requires considerable dexterity and skill. In wet processing operations that involve textile fabrics in cloth rope form having great variations in weight, texture, thickness, flexibility and load, the time required to reposition the inner wall to accommodate a different textile fabric may result in significant loss of production. Accordingly, the efficiency of the wet processing operation is greatly reduced, and the cost of processing the textile fabrics is greatly increased.
Further, each of the plurality of fasteners disclosed in the Hacker et al. patent consists of: (1) a hex head bolt having a threaded portion adjacent the end opposite the hex head; (2) an internally threaded nut for engaging the threaded portion of the hex head bolt; and (3) a cup-shaped bracket that engages the C-shaped lateral flanges of the inner wall when the nut is tightened on the bolt. Because each of the plurality of fasteners includes at least three small, separate pieces which must be removed and replaced, it is highly possible that at least one of the pieces of a fastener may loosen during operation of the wet processing machine and cause damage to the machine or to the interior of the processing chamber. If a cloth rope is subsequently circulated through the processing chamber, the expensive textile fabric could be irreparably damaged by the loose piece of the fastener inside the chamber. In addition, the loose piece of the fastener may damage the finish on an interior surface of the processing chamber. As a result, the textile fabric may be torn, ripped or damaged as it rotates through the processing chamber.
It is now apparent that the known textile wet processing machines do not adequately accommodate textile fabrics having great variations in weight, texture, thickness, flexibility and load. Accordingly, it is clear that a textile wet processing machine including a processing chamber having an adjustable inner wall to alter the volumetric size of the processing chamber is needed wherein: (1) the inner wall is continuously adjustable to any position relative to the outer wall between a predetermined innermost position and a predetermined outermost position; (2) the inner wall may be quickly and easily repositioned; and (3) the means for adjusting the inner wall does not include small, separate pieces that may loosen during operation of the wet processing machine and cause damage to the machine or to the interior of the processing chamber.
Accordingly, it is a principle object of the present invention to provide a textile wet processing machine including a processing chamber having an adjustable inner wall that is continuously adjustable to any position relative to the outer wall between a predetermined innermost position and a predetermined outermost position.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a textile wet processing machine including a processing chamber having an adjustable inner wall that may be quickly and easily repositioned so that adjustment of the inner wall to a new position is not time consuming and does not require considerable dexterity.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a textile wet processing machine including a processing chamber having an adjustable inner wall and adjustment means for adjusting the inner wall that does not include small, separate pieces that may loosen during operation of the wet processing machine and cause damage to the machine or to the interior of the processing chamber.